My Conversation with God “On Being Human”.

By Gregory “Ashid” Possman.

Written on Allegiant Airlines Flight Number 1770,Fort Lauderdale to Concord, North Carolina, June 22, 2016.

 

As God materializes in front of me, I seize an opportunity of a lifetime.  Who hasn’t dreamed of the chance to ask God, the Almighty, about the meaning of one’s personal life?  Although many of us purport to support the greater good, deep down our curiosity on a personal level is basically.  “Why am I here”?  What’s the purpose of my life?  That’s what we want to know!  The surprise comes when I recognize God has decided to materialize as my 36-year-old son’s friend Willie.  We are not in some cave in the highest mountain of the Himalayas.  No, we’re watching the Miami Marlins Baseball team battling the Atlanta Braves at Marlin Stadium in Miami.  God attended a Marlins game and sat next to me.  At first I didn’t recognize her!  I thought it was my son’s friend Willie. I was mistaken.

Am I a Marlins fan?  No, truthfully I care very little about any professional sport.  God has a funny way of putting us where she wants us to be (I consider God to be just as female as Male).  My Son was enjoying free tickets to the game.  My Son-in-law, myself and my Grandsons, ages (3 and 5) were invited to join him.  My indifference to attending is borne out by having to be convinced to go, based on my 7 AM flight home the next day.  Second, our leaving after the Fifth inning and finally my ignorance as to which team actually won the game.  You’re absolutely correct; I wasn’t there to watch the Marlins.  I thought I was there to spend boy’s night out with my Family.  Frankly I was excited about our time together rather than the activity we filled the time with.

Having arrived at the stadium and having been ensconced in our very comfortable hard plastic seats, my Son and his friend were nowhere to be found.  A phone call revealed they were in a bar adjacent to the stadium.  They appeared twenty minutes later and sat behind us.  A Marlins Sales Rep. accompanied them and proceeded to explain the advantage of season-ticket holder status.  My attention was divided between the players on the field, deciphering the scoreboard and the sales reps’ spiel.  Having determined which team was which, what the B, S and O stood for on the scoreboard (balls, strikes and outs).  And what the salesman was selling, I settled in for what I mistakenly thought was going to be a long game.

We gravitate toward whatever interests us for a myriad of reasons.  At the ripe age of 62, I’m still not sure what I want to be when I grow up.  I stopped asking (what’s the point” long ago.  I’m fairly sure there isn’t a point.  That’s what the entities I channel keep explaining to me.  There is experience, there are lessons to learn, but there is no point to life.  By now if you’re still reading this, if I were you, I’d be asking what the point of this article is.  I’m getting there.  Back to our ballgame.  The sales rep finishes his spiel, agreeing to call my son and his friend, Willie, the next day to close the deal.  My Son-in-Law and the 3-year-old Grandson race off to the concession stand in pursuit of a treat.  The 5-year-old is left behind with me, a consequence of not having finished his dinner earlier, i.e., you don’t eat your dinner, you don’t get a treat.  The Marlins (our team) score a run and the crowd goes wild.  I even experience a sense of interest in the game as I surprisingly hear myself cheering with the crowd.  Then it happens!  God appears!

Returning from a trip to the restroom, Willie, my Son’s friend, sits next to me rather than in the row behind me, as he and my son had done upon entering.  Due to the generous nature of my body, we were pressed pretty close to one another.  God (Willie) speaks.  He begins to relay how important and clear his memories of past outings with myself and my Son have been to him.  He’s talking about snorkeling trips, boating trips and other excursions we took together when we were all much younger.  He’s enthusiastically explaining the impact these “adventures” made on him.  I’m experiencing curiosity, disbelief and a sense of having my ego stroked.  We Leo’s love that sense of having our ego stroked!  Willy shares that his military career (now over) has taken him to fourteen countries, his experience with the opposite sex has been quite comprehensive and he is very successful in his current work.  He continues to emphasize how important my involvement in his life and how much those experiences we had together mean to him.  Distraction is taking its toll as I attempt to listen to God, keep track of the grandsons, the younger and his father having returned with a small box containing two glazed donuts.  I’m still amazed doughnuts are sold at professional baseball games.  I make a mental note, “I should get out of my cave more often”.  Once more God (Willie) speaks impressing me further with the positive impact his memories of our experiences have had on him.  In retrospect, I should have kept my mouth shut and listened, God doesn’t want or need feedback, she wants to deliver her message!  My ego jumps into the pool and I babble some nonsense about men’s work, where my male friends and I have discussed the importance of being mentors. I then add some foolishness about becoming clearer on our principles as we grow older.  God (Willie) politely allows me to finish my babbling and continues to deliver her message.

Willie explains how my son’s Mother, my ex-wife, played a huge role in his life.  Even though he imagines our divorce must’ve been traumatic, he always saw me in a very positive light.  I spout some self-defensive comments, as if I have to explain to God (Willie) the reasons I left my ex-wife.  Again God (Willie) politely allows me to finish my rationalizing and makes another powerful point.  These memories we formulate with those around us make lasting impressions.  Sometimes even so much more powerful than our own families could have created.  Is the lack of history we have with one another the reason?  No, she, God, (Willie) says the selfless contributions to the experience and welfare of another are the point!  Then she (God) Willie asked if his revelations can be added to my sermons, Willie is aware of my Rev. Dr. Title and mistakenly believes I preach since he  assumes I have a church.  He encourages me to share his revelations with others.  God (Willy), in her infinite wisdom, asked that if I do something with this message he Willy, would like to have access to it.

You see, I had shared with God (Willie) that for some time I intended to write an article, to be titled, “on being human” and had been waiting for the content.  The part of the process I didn’t understand was that I would receive that content in a Miami Marlins baseball game from God herself, disguised as Willie.  A game I reluctantly attended no less. We left the game about the Fifth inning or so.  The grandsons were tired, the doughnuts had disappeared and we had a Four AM departure time for the Fort Lauderdale airport the following morning.  More importantly, God had finished delivering the message. Earlier in this article, I lied and said there’s no point to life.  I correct myself!  I almost missed the message. The point is; when God talks, listen.